Training of IT specialists in regional universities of Russia and Europe based on international recommendations: comparative analysis

Problem statement. Studied the current issues in the development of IT university training in the context of global digitalization of economy and social sector. Since Russian universities now use updated Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education (FSES 3++) that have a framework nature, the paper explains the expediency and possibility of integrating foreign experience with its curriculum approach into Russian training of IT specialists with due regard to the particular nature of a given university and a region. The overall goal of this study is to develop the methodology for comparative analysis of IT degree programs that is based on the curriculum approach and comparison with sample models and allows to make recommendations for integrating the experience of other universities and international standards into the university’s own educational programs. Methodology. Using the methodology, the paper compares bachelor degree programs in IT in two regional universities (Russian and Latvian ones). Competent experts from Russian and Latvian universities and large IT companies were asked to find out how subjects and sections of the degree programs in these universities correspond to Computing Curricula 2005 and 2020 (CC2005, CC2020) levels. Results. The paper presents graphical views that show how university curricula in IT correspond to the characteristic features of Computing Curricula models. It proves the hypothesis that both universities use Software Engineering model - the most universal one - in their IT training. The paper identifies certain peculiarities of the degree programs under study and provides some guidelines for degree programs in IT and their improvement. Conclusion. The methodology described in this research (including graphical representation) provides a mechanism that is able to highlight a degree program’s weaknesses as it is compared to one of the Computing Curricula sample models. This methodology may be applied to design or update university degree programs in various IT majors or levels.